Great Outdoors: Hayward Fly Fishing Company

HAYWARD, Wis. — Larry Mann and his wife Wendy moved to Hayward in the early 2000s

“Her mom was in failing health a little bit,” Mann recalls.  “We came back to help her thinking it would be maybe a short-term thing.  Here we are 20 years later back in Wendy’s hometown.”

And in 2004, seeing a demand for it, he and his wife founded Hayward Fly Fishing Company right there in town.

“The fishing is that good and there are no shops,” Mann said.  “So we made one!”

Larry knows that the people who come to Hayward are there to fish and his shop has everything you’d need and more.

“We live in a ‘What do you want to catch today?’ neighborhood,” he says.  “I can get guys coming in that want catch bluegills and crappie – guys that want steelhead on the Brule – trout fishing on the Namekagon or on the Brule – trout fishing around here.”

The shop is stocked to the gills with every fly you could imagine.

“We just finished inventory and there are 42,661 flies in here,” Mann explains.  “So we have flies for all seasons and all fish.”

And when Larry says “all fish,” he means all fish.

“There’s an image in everybody’s head that it’s trout fishing only with a fly rod.  And it’s not,” Mann said.  “You can catch anything that swims with a fly: bass, muskie, pike, walleye…”

Larry says it’s that kind of diversity around here that makes the fishing so good.

And fly fishing in particular is very active and requires a lot of attention from those out in the water.

“If you’re in moving water, the simple movement of the water on your legs does something inside you and makes you appreciate the peace and the quiet and the tranquility you get from fishing,” Larry said. “It is a physical act and it’s so exciting when you get to feel a fish on the end of your line.”

You may have your favorite fly fishing shop in your own hometown. Larry knows that.

“If you live in Idaho, you don’t have muskies,” he says.  “If you live in Montana, you don’t have muskies.  If you’re in Colorado, you have tiger muskies, which is a different deal in reservoirs.  We’re fishing in the rivers and this becomes and exotic thing!”

But when you’re in his hometown and you’re ready to get in the water, the Hayward Fly Fishing Company is ready for you any day of the year.

Larry’s shop is located at 15849 W 2nd St. in Hayward. It’s open seven days a week.